Ludhiana, June 24
To err is human! Our very own Ludhiana police seems to believe in this old adage more than anybody else, especially when it comes to English language.

While boards and barricades put by the department across the city bear a "public" testimony to the apologetic state of "English affairs" of our saviours, the media statements issued by our super cops tell a clear tale of their innate struggle with the language.

Which explains pretty much why an eve-teasing FIR reads: "Girl standing outside college accused come on car says Soniye what you doing? Come sit in my gaddi", while "rehris" and "scooters" are mentioned as accused and "gambling was being played".

Cops think and write, ‘‘If Raided Accused Can Be Arrested’’ and ‘‘Accused throw stone on my son head. ’’ Interestingly, the accused is always ‘‘above said’’ in the daily crime file.

If one reads "Punajb Police" on a barricade put up at one of the busiest roads of the city, one does not laugh. Rather, one feels the error is acceptable. After all, it has been made by the Punjab Police who spells "beggars" as "baggers" and puts it up on information boards across the length and breadth of the city for all to see and laugh! And when pointed out by the media, the cops buckle under pressure and attempt to rectify their mistake only to mess it up all the more. The billboards then spell beggars as "beggers".

The difficulty with the Queen's language is so conspicuous among the cop community that from surprising glares to criticism to apologetic sympathy to guffaws, it has generated all possible emotions among the masses.

So much so that repeated glaring spelling mistakes now seem to have become a habit with the law-enforcers of the "Manchester of India" and no longer evoke surprising gazes from the onlookers.

Press statements issued by the police department serve as precious specimens.

The fact that crime briefs penned by the cops can leave anybody bursting into guffaws going by the language is public knowledge now. Every evening mediapersons, especially crime reporters of various newspapers, can be seen and heard grappling with the crime file. Thus, if one happens to come across a certain "Mr Lion Singh", one naturally understands that the author of the crime file means "Mr Sher Singh".

Another indication of the uneasiness of the Punjab Police cops with the "Britishers' gift to India" is their tendency to address every caller as "sir" irrespective of the gender. Ludhiana police department surely needs lessons in English!

Ludhiana, June 24
Aiming to curtail rampant “adulteration”, causing severe ailments to city residents, the district health authorities has collected 20 samples of milk, paneer, dry spices during the surprise checks conducted on hotels and milk vendors in the city.

During the checking of kitchens of hotels, including Gulmohar, Nagpal Regency, East Arm restaurant, health officials took samples of raw material used in various food items and samples for the same have been sent for the laboratory test.

Milk adulteration is all time high this summer, as the increased temperatures bring down the milk yield in dairy animals and the dairy owners and milkmen in order to bridge the gap between demand and supply resort to adulteration.

Acting upon complaints given by residents, the health officials procured samples of milk and paneer from 12 milk vendors on the Chandigarh road and Haibowal road.

It has been established from the reports of failed milk samples taken during last summers that some dairy farmers use mixture of sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, vegetable oil and detergents to increase the volume and fat content of milk, while some use urea mixed with water.

However, the People Forum for Transparency and Social Concern, a city-based NGO that had served a 60-day notice on the ministry of health and family welfare, Punjab, to take action against retailers and wholesalers whose samples of sweetmeat, khoya, paneer, milk, milk products and other grocery items had failed in 2009 has expressed “dissatisfaction” on the action taken by the department.

The forum president MS Gill said, “The department has been given a target of taking 100 samples per month in Ludhiana and the whole practice is an eye-wash, as none of the prominent hotels, restaurants of sweetmeat shops have been checked.”

Gill also said that if the department fails to take action till July 1, the forum will file a public interest litigation (PIL) against the state government in Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh.

But the city residents are demanding “checks” on all big hotels and chain restaurant alleging that they are equally guilty of selling stale and contaminated food/beverages. Stating that he was on leave, District Health Officer Dr DS Kochar said he would look into the matter after coming back.

Ludhiana, June 24
About a hundred households in Fatehgarh Mohalla near Chand Cinema have been getting contaminated water supply for the past several days, but neither the area councillor nor the civic officials concerned have paid any attention to their pleas to rectify the fault. Instead the councillor, faulting the residents for “always complaining", claimed the water pipes had recently been changed and “there could be no problem at all”.

The residents had faced a similar problem about seven months ago and it was fixed after a month. However, this time 15 days have gone by without any action being taken by the civic body.

Narrating their tale of water woes, MP Kapoor, a senior citizen living in the area, said residents have been getting “yellow coloured” water for many days. "The water emits foul smell. Though we have complained to the authorities on complaint number 2196 nothing has been done to rectify the fault. We had faced the same problem about seven months back but supply of potable water was resumed only after a month.

Though we’re using a reverse osmosis water purification system at our home we still feel scared when drinking the water or using it for cooking", said Kapoor. Another area resident, Ajay Kumar, complained households were being supplied “muddy” water. "We’ve raised a hue and cry after civic officials appeared to have adopted a callous attitude. They are not at all sensitive to our grievances. We’re getting more worried as the rains are expected in the region any time now. Water supply problems will get worse if timely action is not taken. We have been boiling water before drinking it these days", he said.

The area residents feel that water was being mixed with sewage pipes somewhere in the area due to which dirty water was being supplied. "Or else the pipes are too old, broken or damaged. This has happened in this particular locality for the second time. We feel a permanent solution must be provided. If we continue to consume this contaminated water we’ll be down with serious diseases like gastroenteritis or cholera", said Kulwant Singh, another resident of street no 3 in Fatehgarh Mohalla. Area councillor Raghbir Singh, however, denied contaminated water was being supplied anywhere in the area. "The last councillor had done nothing but I got all the water supply pipes changed. Potable water is being supplied to residents in the entire area. I’ve not received any such complaint by (Fatehgarh Mohalla) residents", he asserted. Meanwhile, municipal corporation commissioner AK Sinha said he was not aware of the water supply problem being faced by residents in Fatehgarh Mohalla. "I’ll ask officials to look into the matter without any delay. The fault will be rectified soon", he assured.

Ludhiana, June 24
About 25 per cent of the population of city is using water "illegally". In absence of proper addresses or the house numbers in localities on the outskirts of city, no action can be initiated against the defaulters. Though Civic Body claims to be charging two-year fine from the defaulters but majority of latter get-away with it. With the result, Civic Body not only loses revenue but the defaulters prefer not to make judicious use of water.

Talking to The Tribune, one of the officials of O and M cell of Ludhiana Municipal Corporation told that MC felt helpless to stop the practice. "Residents on the outskirts including Lohara road, Barewal Road, Tajpur Road, Humbran Road etc have been living in undeclared areas, which have no proper address or house numbers.

In majority of these areas, residents are using water illegally by joining pipes with main water-supply pipes. Here we can not help much. We can not send water bills in the areas", said the official further adding that because of this unethical practice, MC was losing revenue.

"Water table is depleting at an alarming proportion. It is cause of concern to save water. But when people will not pay for water, why will they use it judiciously? Water-taps in these areas keep on running but nobody bothers to close it. Strict measures have to be taken such defaulters to save water. We keep on organising camps, asking residents to get their connections regularized. Many come forward, still many prefer to avoid", admitted the official.

Manjeet Singh, XEN D Zone when contacted said that MC was seriously thinking on this issue. Citing an example, he said there were about 10 such colonies in Haibowal where there were no house numbers, residents were not covered under House Tax. "These are about 2000 water-sewerage connections which need to be regulated. We have tied-up with concerned departments to regularize them. Otherwise, most of the water-connections are sanctioned by MC and the ones which are not, we disconnect them", said Manjeet Singh.

Dadhahoor (Ludhiana), June 24
With all the posts of science and mathematics teachers scrapped following rationalisation of posts of lecturers in government schools, dreams of residents of at least 15 surrounding villages to see their wards as doctors and engineers have been shattered.

Hoping against hope, residents of the affected villages have urged the state government to restore the previous staff during which a large number of students of had succeeded in getting professional degrees and diplomas in medical, engineering and other allied courses.

Authorities in the state education department and the Sarav Sikhya Abhiyan Authority, Punjab, have assured the villagers to review the rationalisation process in view of their demand.

Accusing the state government of supporting certain private schools of the region, villagers led by Nirpal Singh Jaladiwal, secretary, Parents Teachers Association, and sarpanch Saudagar Singh, have urged the higher authorities to review the decision following which all the five posts of science teachers were abolished.

The action of the department, taken as a part of the rationalisation of the posts, has ruined the future of at least 80 students of medical and non-medical stream in senior classes.

Kutba, Bahmnian, Nihaluwala and Kalal Majra in Barnala district and Kalsan, Gobindgarh, Rajgura and Jalaldiwal, besides Dadhahoor villages include the list of beneficiary localities.

Perusal of a communication to the higher authorities, including the chief minister, the education minister and the education secretary by the office-bearers of the civic bodies of the affected villages revealed that the only state-run school in the area has been running without a principal for almost 18 years. Despite this, the staff, led by officiating head Hardeep Singh, was successful in preparing students for admission to medical and engineering streams all these years.

It was after the implementation of the rationalisation policy that all the lecturers of physics, chemistry and mathematics were transferred from here to other schools. The only biology lecturer was shifted recently. Peeved over scrapping of all the posts of science lecturers and filling only two posts of lecturers out of eight, villagers led by sarpanches and panches approached the authorities for restoration of the normal staff strength.

“Though the director, Sarav Sikhya Abhyian, and secretary education had assured us of immediate restoration of posts, no action has yet been taken in this regard. Now, we have written to the chief minister and the education minister to impress upon the authorities to save the future of our wards by restoring previous position of staff,” said Nirpal Singh Jalaldiwal.

Hardeep Singh, officiating principal, said around 80 students had been admitted to science stream this year. Though the authorities had assured to provide adequate staff, they declined to provide lecturer in biology as the strength was less than 20 students.

Faqir Chand, chairman, welfare committee, and Rajinder Singh Billu, vice-president, PTA, said parents were ready to share extra financial burden in case lecturers were provided.

Doraha, June 24
Gone are the times when you could buy an item as little as anything and get the change in return, without any fuss from the other side. Now, if you are in to purchase an article or for that matter articles, ensure beforehand that you have change with you, otherwise be prepared to accept toffees in return.

One such customer who visited a grocery shop complained, “One day I had a Rs 10 note with me but the item I purchased was worth Rs 6. The shopkeeper, although in possession of coins, refused to give me change. He rather forced me to buy toffees for the rest of the amount. Although I was in no mood to buy them yet I had no other alterative. Now the item, which I wanted was of Rs 6 but it actually cost me Rs 10. Every time you visit a shop you are given the same hackneyed reply, either give the change or eat toffees.”

“It has also been observed that the quality of these toffees is not good and when the kids eat this they invite health problems” rued a disturbed father.

Another mode that is generally being adopted by the shopkeepers these days is that they give you sweets with a promise to take them back on the next purchase. “But is it practically possible to first preserve those toffees and then keep in mind to make a quick visit to the shop again lest the shopkeeper should forget that you ever visited him and refuse to accept the toffees he had given you” was another agitated customer’s reply.

In another incident, a customer blatantly refused on take back toffees and insisted on being returned the change. The shopkeeper argued a little but was ultimately forced to dig out the coins from his drawer. “It has become another source of income for the small as well as big stores. Not only this, even in buses, you have to accept toffees from the conductor. Never expect your change to be returned. The conductor asks you to take toffees in return and enjoy the rest of the journey munching them, but at the cost of your coins”, said another customer.

A small shopkeeper alleged that we are in no way responsible for this. There is always dearth of coins and the banks too adopt a preferential mode in issuing them only to the big shopkeepers who pay lacks to the banks in return and refuse to pay the same to the shopkeepers like me. We have no other choice, but to give toffees in return”.

“If the general public is suffering then the government must come out with a substantial solution to deal with the problem. With rising prices, every single penny is dearer to a common man, who nowadays is finding it difficult to make both ends meet. Evolving such a system, which makes an extra hole in the pocket of the customer, is in no way the right approach to the problem. If the government cannot find something concrete at present, it can at least try and give a round figure price to each and every item so that the problem does not acquire such graveness” expressed a teacher.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, June 24
With a view to maintain sanitation during pilgrimage, activists of the local unit of the Har Har Mahadev Sewa Dal have devised a mobile toilet unit on a truck.

President of the unit Bimal Kumar Sharma has flagged off the first truck toilet for Baltal, a pilgrimage place in Jammu and Kashmir. Besides, the sewa dal has also sent truckloads of ration to the holy place for langar.

Volunteers of the local unit of the Bharatiya Maha Dal and the Shri Ram Mandir Committee worked under the supervision of Deepak Sharma, a social activist, who monitored the collection of foodgrains and other eatables from the town.

Sharma claimed that the association had been organising langar for pilgrims during the Amarnath Yatra for the past 12 years. “Besides arranging eatables, blankets and medicines, we have arranged warm water during morning hours,” he said, adding that oxygen would also be provided in case of emergency. He said Inderpal Singh Walia played an important role in preparing toilets on trucks. 

Ludhiana, June 24
Work at the office of the subregistrar (east & north), located in Transport Nagar, came to a halt today after all electrical appliances in the building were burnt following a fault in the power supply.

Visitors were kept waiting for hours at the office, which generates daily revenues of Rs 50 lakh for the Punjab exchequer in the form of stamp duties and registration fees. About 120 revenue documents including sale deeds, wills and power of attorney documents are processed on an average every day.

On Thursday not a single document could be registered as the office employees decided not to switch on their computers, fearing these would also meet the same fate as the fans and lights. As the staff grappled with the situation, visitors had to wait for several hours in the sweltering heat for work to resume.

As soon as the office opened in the morning and staff members switched on the lights and fans, they were shocked to see smoke coming out of them. It was only later that they found out that a high-tension wire in the areas had fallen on the office’s electricity supply line, resulting in a surge of high voltage that burnt the appliances.

The staff tried to run the backup generator but sparking in the wiring scared them as well as the visitors away. ‘‘It was a strange experience. The residents were seen rushing outside when we switched on the generator. We then decided to call for the experts”, said executive magistrate-cum-subregistrar (E) Jagsir Singh.

He said it took the entire day for the electricians to restore power supply to the office. ‘‘The situation was back to normal by 3 pm but we hesitated to switch on the computers. We feared it they developed a snag our entire data could have been deleted. We couldn’t take that risk at all”, said Jagsir.

He said the incident would not result in a loss the state exchequer, as the revenue would be received during the next few days. ‘‘It only means a postponement of revenue generation. The residents have to get their documents registered anyway and so they will come tomorrow. The only problem is that they had to suffer waiting for work to start and then go back without getting it done, ’’ he said.

Jagraon, June 24
It has been reported that thousand of fish have died mysteriously in a pond in Akhara village. The pond is situated in the backyard of the historical Gurdwara 'Kaimban Wali Dhab'.

The fish have been dying since last week and the intensity of their death is growing day by day.

Since the dead fish are not being removed from the pond, it is now poising as a health hazard for the villagers as it has started stinking.

The sarpanch of the village has not visited the site even once. The village panchayat is indifferent to the problem.

The hot weather is multiplying the woe of the villagers. The dead fish are infected with worms now and they may prove disastrous for the remaining fish in the pond.

The villagers, including Darshan Singh, Nirmal Singh Numberdar Puran Singh, Baldev Singh, Gursewak Singh, Dr. Iqbal Singh and others present near the village pond said that the fishing from this pond was prohibited by the village panchayat but some persons had fixed nets in the pond for fishing purpose without permission.

They were overpowered by the villages and handed over to the village panchayat. They expressed apprehension that the same persons had poisoned the village pond.

The villagers appealed the administration to look into the matter and provide the village immediate relief by removing the dead fish and ascertain the reason behind the deaths.

They said if no action was taken on time that then there were chances that an epidemic would break out.

Jagraon SDM Mukand Singh said he had got the information and action would be taken on it tomorrow morning. SMO Jagraon Hari Krishan Singla said he would make a special team to monitor the situation in the village. The team will start its work tomorrow in the morning.

Jagraon, June 24
The Rs 12.19 crore Jagraon railway overbridge might take another month for its completion and to be thrown open for the general public, but the major political parties in the state - the Akali Dal and the Congress - are already at loggerheads over its inauguration.

Where Akali workers claim that the intervention of Sukhbir Badal had led to a speedy construction of the overbridge, Congress workers give the credit to the Union Railway Minister for the same.

While local Akali worker Bhag Singh Malla along with other workers visited the overbridge site to inspect the ongoing construction work, Congress workers led by MLA Gurdeep Singh Bhaini also held a press conference staking their claim for the inauguration of the overbridge.

Interestingly, where Akali workers claim that Badals had communicated with the Union ministry to complete the overbridge at the earliest, local MP Manish Tewari dared the Akali's to bring a single letter regarding the communication of Badals over the delayed overbridge with any of the ministries.

He instead asked the Akalis to negotiate a economic package for the businessmen who ran they business establishment at the overbridge site and were completely ruined due to the construction work.

Dismissing the claim of both the parties to inaugurate the overbridge, a third front, including the Inqulabi Kender and other NGOs, asked both the parties to first fix the responsibility for the delayed construction before staking claim over the inauguration.

The Nagar Sudhar Sabha and the other NGOs demanded that the overbridge should be inaugurated by the workers who had worked hard for its completion.

In the present situation, the general public could not commute over it due the political rivalry of both the parties.

The construction of the overbridge started during the tenure of Captain Amarinder Singh on October 2006. The overbridge was to be completed within one-and-half-year.

The completion of the overbridge was delayed by more than three years. The contractor, VS Walia, claimed that the overbridge would be completed by June 30 and handed over to the Punjab government for formal inauguration. 

Ludhiana, June 24
Exposing criminal activities of a group of junk dealers and bringing forth their dark side in public cost dear to a reporter of a Punjabi daily, who was brutally assaulted by the piqued offenders.

Ravi Bhatia, a reporter with a vernacular newspaper at Sahnewal, had exposed a gang of junk traders operating in the town in a series of investigative news reports against them. Irked at the exposure, one of the traders Rajan Bhatia, had even threatened Ravi of dire consequences, Ravi said."For the past few days, the traders had been looking for me, I had got to know of it from my office staff," Ravi disclosed.

"On June 19, at around 3 pm, six traders came to my office. Soon after, six more of their accomplices joined them. They attacked me with sticks and rods. I was seriously injured," said Ravi.Ravi identified the assailants as Rajesh Bhatia, Rajan Bhatia, Arun Bhatia, Vishal Bhatia, Karela, Tinky Bhatia and five unknown persons.

In the assault, the scribe received grievous head injury and a fracture in his right forearm. A case was registered. The scribe met ADCP Parmod Ban today in Ludhiana to seek his intervention in the case. The ACP said he had written to the ACP, Sahnewal, to verify the allegations and the nature of the injury from the medico-legal report of the complainant and initiate action accordingly.

Ludhiana, June 24
The Universal Human Rights Organisation (UHRO), along with several other bodies of social activists, has called upon the Centre to grant compensation package to victims of terrorism, anti-Sikh riots and police brutalities during the dark period of militancy in Punjab on the pattern of the one recently announced for those affected by Bhopal gas tragedy.

In a memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister through the district authorities, activists of the UHRO, the Punjab Networking of Positive People, the Social Youth Federation, the Women Justice and Equality, the Hindu-Sikh Jagriti Sena and the Savitri Bai Phule Mahila Jagriti Sangh, while appreciating the government’s decision to grant a package of compensation to victims of Bhopal gas tragedy, albeit after a delay of 24 years, wanted a similar package to be announced for those killed in terrorist attacks, anti-Sikh riots and thousands of others killed or gone missing in fake police encounters.

Elaborating, UHRO president Satnam Singh Dhaliwal said nearly 20,000 innocent youth had fell to police bullets during the nineties and many more were still reported missing even after more than 20 years. In the absence of FIRs and other legal documents, kin of those still on the missing list were not entitled to any compensation.

The memorandum brought to fore the discrimination meted out by the government in grant of compensation to the victims from time to time. While a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each was awarded by the National Human Rights Commission to the kin of those killed in fake police encounters in Punjab, the government had granted Rs 1 lakh each to the families of those killed at the hands of militants and Rs 3.5 lakh ex-gratia to victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Activists of the UHRO and other bodies urged the government to treat all the victims of man-made disasters at par and frame a uniform policy for award of compensation. At the same time, the state government ought to put a mechanism in place to declare those still missing - as dead, and grant adequate compensation to their families and dependents.

Mullanpur Dakha, June 24
The Sudhar police has nabbed a man from Sudhar village for not providing detailed information of his tenant.

The police had made public announcements through print media and asked all landlords to provide the information of their tenants at their respective police stations but the landlords were taking it lightly.

The Deputy Commissioner had also issued directions to the police stations to keep a tab on tenants residing in their jurisdiction and along with the information keep a copy of the photograph of the tenant with them.

Till date none of the landlords had given any information to the police regarding their tenants in the jurisdiction of Ludhiana rural police. The SSP, Ludhiana Rural, Harinder Singh Chahal, has now directed all SHOs to strike hard on the erring landlords.

In such a move, the Sudhar police has booked and arrested Harpal Singh of Sudhar village under Section 188 of the IPC for not providing the information of his tenant to them.